MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Winners of five in a row and eight of its last nine, the West Virginia University baseball team begins its final week at home against Maryland on Tuesday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. ET at Monongalia County Ballpark.

 

The final midweek home game of the season, Tuesday’s contest is a True Blue game and a Dollar Day. All fans are encouraged to wear blue, and all tickets and select concession items will be just $1. It is also Pepperoni Roll Night, sponsored by Chico’s Bakery, home of Julia’s famous Pepperoni Roll. The first 300 students will receive a free pepperoni roll at the gate, and pepperoni rolls will be $1 off at the concession stands for all fans.

 

The Mountaineers (27-19) are coming off a sweep of Texas, while the Terrapins (25-21) had won three of their last four on the road before a home series loss to Illinois. WVU and UM meet for the 63rd time, with West Virginia holding a 9-6-1 advantage in Morgantown.

 

Tickets are available for Tuesday’s game against Maryland. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and contribute to the home field advantage at Monongalia County Ballpark by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at Gate A of Monongalia County Ballpark.

 

For fans unable to cheer on the Mountaineers in person at Monongalia County Ballpark, there are several ways to tune in live. A live video stream, courtesy of Coca-Cola, and live stats can be found at WVUSports.com. Jeff Culhane and Ernie Galusky will call the action on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state. The radio broadcast can also be found online at WVUsports.com or on the TuneIn Radio App and the Mountaineer Gameday App. Additional updates and notes can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team at @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

There are several new parking and shuttle options for fans to make cheering on the Mountaineers even easier this season.

 

Free parking will be available for all fans in the new parking lots behind the outfield fence. Lot 1 is located behind the right field wall and adjacent to the clubhouse facility at the ballpark, and lot 2 is located across the street from Gate A.

 

A limited amount of ADA accessible parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for free in the lot closest to Gate A. The lot is located behind the left-center field wall, behind the scoreboard. An ADA parking permit will be required to park in the spots reserved for ADA parking.

 

Free shuttle service for WVU students will also be offered to each WVU baseball home game this season through WVU Transportation. Student must have a valid WVU Student ID to ride the shuttle.

 

The shuttle schedule and complete parking information can be found at WVUsports.com.

 

Maryland comes to Morgantown with a 25-21 record and a 10-8 mark in Big Ten play. The Terrapins are 14-9 at home, 9-12 in road contests and 2-0 at a neutral site.

 

Maryland is coming off a series loss at home to Illinois. UM lost the opener, 4-2, before rebounding with a 3-1 victory on Saturday. The Terrapins were edged in the rubber match, 5-4. UM rallied with two eight-inning runs to tie the game at 4-4 before the Illini regained the lead with a run in the ninth.

 

The Terrapins are led by John Szefc, in his fourth season as head coach. He led UM to an NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2014 and again in 2015. He owns a 137-93 record in College Park, Maryland and a 349-230 career mark in 11 seasons as a head coach.

 

West Virginia is 23-38-1 all-time against Maryland. The Mountaineers are 9-6-1 in home contests, 13-32 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site games.

 

The series began in 1899 with a 19-6 loss at Maryland. WVU got revenge three years later with a 19-5 victory, also in College Park, Maryland. The Terrapin’s first visit to Morgantown didn’t come until 1922, when they earned an 8-2 win.

 

From 1951-1953, WVU and UM played in the Southern Conference. West Virginia went 3-4 against Maryland, including a 4-3 win in the 1951 SoCon Tournament.

 

Recently, the Mountaineers and Terrapins met in 2012, twice in 2014 and once last year. WVU’s last win came in 2014, a 14-2 victory in Morgantown. UM prevailed later in the 2014 season, 4-2, and again in 2015, 12-7, with both games taking place in College Park.

 

The home season concludes this weekend vs. William and Mary at Monongalia County Ballpark. The series begins with a doubleheader on Friday, May 13, at 4 p.m. The second game will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. After an off day on Saturday, WVU hosts Senior Day on Sunday at 1 p.m. Before the game, the Mountaineers will honor their four seniors, Jeff Hardy, KC Huth, Blake Smith and Ross Vance.

 

West Virginia is coming off a sweep of Texas. The Mountaineers won the opener against the Longhorns, 11-2, before a 14-7 win on Saturday and a 9-5 win on Sunday. In the three-game series sweep, the Mountaineers (27-19, 11-9 Big 12) outscored the Longhorns 34-14 and out-hit them 38-22. WVU posted a .369 batting average to UT’s .218. West Virginia’s bullpen held Texas to one run on four hits in 9.1 innings, while WVU scored 14 runs on 18 hits off the UT bullpen in 13 innings. It was WVU’s third three-game sweep of a Big 12 opponent since joining the conference in 2013.

 

Every WVU batter recorded a hit in the opener as the Mountaineers benefited from another strong start by junior right-hander Chad Donato for an 11-2 win. The explosive West Virginia offense recorded 15 hits and scored four runs in the third inning and three in both the seventh and eighth. Meanwhile, Donato held UT to two runs on five hits in 7.0 innings. He struck out six, walked just two and was aided by several stellar defensive plays to complete the well-rounded team victory. Three Mountaineers, junior Jackson Cramer and freshmen Ivan Vera and Braden Zarbnisky, had two hits and two RBIs a piece. Vera, who added two highlight-reel plays in the field, was joined by Zarbnisky and fellow freshmen Kyle Gray and Darius Hill with two runs scored.

 

WVU scored in all but one inning to outlast Texas, 14-7 in the second game. A day after scoring 11 runs on 15 hits, West Virginia backed it up with 14 runs on 13 hits on Saturday. Seven Mountaineers had at least one hit, six had one or more RBIs and eight scored at least one run. The offensive onslaught was headlined by four players with both multiple hits and RBIs. Sophomore Kyle Davis and freshman Kyle Gray had three hits and two RBIs, while freshman Darius Hill had two hits and three RBIs and freshman Ivan Vera had two hits and drove in two runs. The WVU bullpen held UT to just one run on two hits in the final four innings. Freshman right-hander Braden Zarbnisky relieved senior left-handed starter Ross Vance and gave up just one run on one hit in 3.1 innings. Zarbnisky earned the win and junior righty Jackson Sigman pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

 

WVU completed the sweep with a 9-5 victory on Sunday. For the second consecutive day, WVU jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the first and four in the second to take a 7-1 lead. Just like Saturday, the Longhorns fought back with three runs in the third and one in the fourth to get to within two at 7-5. West Virginia would not allow the visitors to get any closer though, as sophomore right-handed starter Conner Dotson threw a scoreless fifth and sixth innings before the bullpen took care of the rest. Dotson was making his first start of the season and eighth of his career. While he allowed five runs, four of them earned, on seven hits in 6.0 innings, he recovered nicely from a three-run third inning with a scoreless fifth and sixth. He earned his fifth win of the season. Sunday’s offensive outburst, which featured nine runs on 10 hits and used the help of three Longhorn errors, was led by junior Jackson Cramer’s three hits and three RBIs. Freshman Darius Hill added three hits, drove in two runs and scored twice, while freshman Ivan Vera had two hits, one RBI and two runs scored.

 

The Mountaineers have been recognized with a record-number of awards this season. West Virginia has earned nine Big 12 weekly honors, the most in a season since WVU joined the Big 12 for the 2013 season and second-most of any school in the conference this season.

 

Most recently, junior Jackson Cramer earned his third Big 12 Player of the Week accolade and second in as many weeks. He is just the fifth player in conference history to win the award three or more times in a single season. Cramer is the seventh player to win the award in back-to-back weeks and the first since 2013.

 

WVU won all three Big 12 weekly awards on May 2, the first sweep of the Player, Pitcher and Newcomer of the Week awards by any Big 12 school. Cramer was named the Player of the Week, while junior Chad Donato was named the Pitcher of the Week and freshman Ivan Vera earned the newcomer honor.

 

Donato, the NCBWA Pitcher of the Week, is the sixth Mountaineer in program history to earn national weekly honors from the NCBWA and the first to earn any national weekly honor since 2013.

 

The Mountaineers have added four WVU Student-Athlete of the Week accolades.

 

Single game tickets for the 2016 WVU baseball season are on sale now. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and contribute to the home field advantage at Monongalia County Ballpark by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, purchasing tickets at WVUGAME.com or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at Gate A of Monongalia County Ballpark. More information on single game tickets and can be found at WVUsports.com.

 

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.